Demographic and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 epidemic in Albania

Introduction: This study provides a general overview of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Albania. The aim was to assess the spread of COVID-19 in the country by describing the demographic and epidemiological characteristics. Methodology: We performed a 12-month national observational, epidemiological study. The data were extracted from the national digital system of Infectious Diseases Information and included all reported COVID-19 cases. Demographic data, number of tests, number of confirmed positive cases, and number of deaths were analyzed to build a general overview of the pandemic in Albania. Results: The database comprised 251,139 tested individuals and 250,926 were reported as confirmed cases. The average age of the tested cases was 44.83 years; 19.8% of the studied individuals were 51-60 years old and this group had the highest proportion (51.7%) of females. The estimated prevalence of COVID-19 in Albania was 51.31% (110,397 cases). Tirana, the capital of Albania, had the highest percentage of COVID-19 positive cases (44.9%) with an incidence rate 3,879.02 individuals/100,000 inhabitants. The COVID-19 curve reached its peak in February 2021 with 54,046 cases. The mortality rate was 1.18/1000 inhabitants. Conclusions: This demographic and epidemiological analysis provides a better understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic, and. the findings can contribute towards perception and re-investigation of the spread of COVID-19 in Albania, However, further studies covering longer periods and deeper analysis are needed for developing an epidemiological mathematical model, as a tool to develop and implement specific strategies for monitoring future pandemics.